Tragedy shattered the early morning when a dump truck collided with a school bus in Burlington County. Authorities say that the bus and truck accident occurred just after 8:00 Thursday at the intersection of Route 528 and Old York Road in Chesterfield. Police say that the school bus was on Old York Road, which is controlled at the intersection by a flashing red light. That intersection sports a flashing amber light for traffic on Route 528.

Police say the dump truck entered the intersection under the amber light while traveling Route 528. The dump truck collided with a school bus transporting 25 students. The impact of the crash caused the bus to spin, rotating the bus into the pole supported the traffic control signals. The pole became embedded in the school bus. Seventeen students of the bus suffered personal injuries. One of the children suffered fatal injuries.

The Associated Press reports that the deceased 11-year-old student was a triplet daughter of a New Jersey State Police trooper. The triplet's two sisters were also on the bus and reportedly were critically injured in the bus and truck accident. At least one other 11-year-old suffered critical injuries in the accident.

Authorities say that 17 of the 25 students were taken to nearby hospitals. Nine of the injured students were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton. Authorities report that one of those nine was treated and released by Thursday afternoon.

When emergency responders arrived at the tragic school bus accident, they enlisted the service of a neighbor's house to help out with evaluation of the injured. Authorities say that the nearby house was used as a triage center, while authorities tended to the injured students at the accident scene.

An investigation into the accident continues and authorities say that no charges have been filed at this point of the investigation.

Source: The Times, via nj.com, "Burlington County school bus crash with dump truck kills 6th grader, injures 17 other students," Samantha Costa, Feb. 16, 2012